The Middle East in Transition: Clues from Poland

Patrycja Sasnal analyses the features of the Polish transition to democracy particularly relevant to the changes unfolding in Egypt and Tunisia. These include similar initial conditions, a relatively short time span between the waves of change, a religious background and economic hardship. The paper underlines good practices and deficiencies of the transition period in Poland and provides a comparative framework to evaluate recent experiences in Southern Mediterranean countries

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The Spanish Transition and the Arab Spring

This paper by Antoni Segura focuses on the transition processes unfolding in Arab countries and compares them to the Spanish experience. Very often presented as a model, the Spanish transition to democracy offers some lessons and errors to be taken into account by Southern Mediterranean countries. The author argues that the Arab countries should not try to strictly follow previous democratisation experiences because each process is based on its own historical, cultural, religious and socioeconomic conditions and on a correlation of political forces that are by nature different in every country.

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Le Maroc et le printemps arabe dans un monde en plein changement

Bernabé López García explains the role of young people at the heart of the Arab Spring and of the 20th February movement of Morocco. Their demands have been more democracy, social justice, transparency and accountability. This paper argues that although social unrest is taking place in countries with very different structures, the history and context of these movements have one thing in common: young overqualified people in a precarious situation and who have become mobilized through the power of social networks.

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The Political Economy of Arab Uprisings

Nadine Sika analyzes the deep-rooted problems of the prevailing political economy in the Arab region. Recent economic reform projects have substantially increased GDP growth and human development, such as access to education and healthcare. However, they have proven futile in the attainment of an equitable distribution of income, in increasing the living standards of individuals, and in alleviating poverty. Those subsequent Arab governments especially in Egypt and Tunisia are not effectively addressing the factors that have led to the wave of Arab uprisings.

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Brief 37: Lebanon in the midst of the “Arab Spring”: plus ça marche…
By Benedetta Berti, INSS

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The Arab Spring one year after: Challenges, prospects & strategies for change
Friday 29 to Saturday 30 March 2012
Brussels
EPC, IEMed and EuroMeSCo in cooperation with: Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), OMV AG, Austria Robert Bosch Stiftung, Germany Foreign Ministry of the Kingdom of Denmark Foreign Ministry of the Kingdom of Belgium Friedrich Ebert-Stiftung, Germany Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit, Germany.

A Democratic Egypt: From Revolution to Institution
Wednesday, 28 March 2012
London
Chatham House

Le Hamas, le Hezbollah et la labellisation terroriste
Thursday, 29 March 2012
Brussels
MEDEA

Le mouvement protestataire du 15 mai. Un point de rupture dans la trajectoire démocratique espagnole?
Thursday, 29 March 2012
Rabat
CERAM

Revolution year. How Arab people are toppling their tyrants
Tuesday, 10 April 2012
Madrid
Casa Arabe

Syria: What Role for the International Community?
Thursday, 12 April 2012
London
Chatham House

Crises en cascade sur la rive nord de la Méditerranée
Monday, 16 April 2012
Paris
EUROMED - IHEDN